Life-boat



(No Model.)

W. LOOKERBY.

LIFE BOAT.

No.`25l,611. Pa.1',`ented Deo. 27,1881.

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LIFE-BOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,611, dated December 2'?, 1881.

' Application filed September 27, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM LooxnRBY, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Life-Boat, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specication, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a life-boat constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the center of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section through the same. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section, showing the bottom extended. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section on the line x x of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the line y y of Fig. 2.

My invention relates to an improvement in lifeboats, and has for its object to greatly increase their efficiency without adding to their weight or bulk; and my invention consists in a lifeboat having a permanently-inflated section provided with bulk-heads permanently fixed to its lower edge, and in combination with a water-tight extension-bottom, which, when forced out, not only increases the depth and carrying capacity of the boat, but also adds materially to its buoyancy or ioating power, rendering it capable of sustaining much additional weight, and consequently saving more lives in cases of emergency.

In the said drawings, A represents the body or main portion of a life-boat, made sharp at both ends, and having the usual series of airtight cells or chambers, a., at the sides to impart the desired degree of buoyancy, these cells being separated from each other by water-tight partitions b, as seen in Fig. 6.

B is a water-tight extension-bottom, which is applied to the central opening, C, ofthe boat, and consists of a bottom board, c, connected with the main portion A of the boat by means of strong painted canvas d, or other suitable water-tight flexible material, securely fastened at its upper and lower edges to the sides or edges of the central opening, C, and bottom board, c, and disposed in a manner similar to the sides of a bellows, which construction admits ofthe bottom being shut up close into the main portion ofthe boat, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, whenl not in use or when stowed away on board/ship, thus economizing space, or forced down/ so as to extend ont, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, when required for actual service.

The above-described extension-bottom presents the following advantages: It adds nothing to the weight of the boat, except that of the cloth forming the sides of the extension, and does not render theboat any more bulky when stowed away on board ship, as the bottom is then compactly shut in out of the Way.

.When, however, the bottom B is pushed down or extended, it not only adds depth and increased carrying capacity to the boat, but it also greatly augments its buoyancy and renders it capable ot' sustaining a great amount of additional weight, thus enabling the boat to save the lives ot' many more persons than would otherwise be possible. In a boat l'teen feet long and tive feet wide the extension-bottom, when pushed out, will increase its buoyancy about thirty-two hundred poundsthat is, it will sustain that amount of additional weight.

The boat is provided with the usual side lines, e, for persons in the Water to grasp and hold on by, and is intended to be launched with the extension-bottom B closed in, and remains in that condition until it begins to be loaded with persons, whose weight immediately presses or forces out the extension-bottom B down into the water without causing the main portion A of the boat to sink any deeper, thus bringing the boat to her full size and proper shape, the load ballastin g the boat so heavily that it is almost impossible for her to be capsized, even in the roughcst water,

while, when fully loaded and also filled with water, the boat will still be able to sustain lier load and save the occupants from drowning.

The extension-bottom may, if desired, be so arranged that it can be reversed or forced out from either side of the central opening, C, thus adapting the boa-t for immediate use in case it should be accidentally capsized; and it will be seen that the greatly-increased depth resulting from the employment of an extension-bottom, as above described, affords the maximum degree of comfort combined with safety, esperoo cially to Wea-k persons and Women and chilflexible water-proof strip secured to the lower to dren, as it lessens the liability of their being edge of section A, as set forth. Washed overboard in heavy weather. Witness my hand this 22d day of Septem- What I claim as my invention, and desire to ber, A. D. 1881. secure by Letters Patent', is-

Iu a collapsible life-boat., the oblong perma- WILLAM LOGKERBY nently-intlated section A, provided with bulk- In presence ot'- heads b b, in combination with the extension- P. E. TESGHEMACHER, section consisting of the rigid bottom c and a W. J. CAMBRIDGE. 

